Adolescent worldsavers
by The Vortex of Doom
Summary: LinkXZelda MalonXOC. Link meets a new kid on his way to Hyrule Castle. They go on a quest to save Hyrule, and have fun. Rated T because I want options. Might change to M because I might want more. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Am I Nintendo? No, I'm the Vortex of Doom, and therefore, I do not own any official Zelda characters. Imagine that!

This story is my first attempt at making a Zelda fanfic. Or any fanfic for that matter. But not my first fic. I hope you like it, and in case you didn't guess, it's based on LoZ: OoT. That and Majora's mask are the best Zelda games ever. No offense to anyone who thinks otherwise. I haven't played too many others, but a large population of the world agrees with me.

I'd like if you reviewed, but don't feel the need. Also, flames are welcome. As long as they're not bitchfests of swearing and nothing meaningful. Not that I'm sensitive to that, more that I don't have the time and patience to read it.

Enjoy!

Vortex.

Dawn rose on the Kokiri forest. A young boy, about 10, was woken by a constant stream of "Hey!'s" and "Listen!'s" that would plague him in the years to come. But at this moment, a moment that he had endured 10 years of mockery and insults waiting for, it was the sweetest sound in the world.

"What?" He said, rubbing his head where… something…. had been hitting him. "Who's there?"

"Navi the fairy," the glowing winged creature said. "I was sent by the Great Deku Tree to help you, Link. He wants to see you."

"Me? Why me?" Link asked, puzzled.

"I can't tell you," Navi said. "By that, I mean, I don't know!" She said at the look of questioning on his face.

"Whatever," he said, looking rather disappointed. "Let's go see him, then."

No sooner had they left Link's house than an enthusiastic "Yahoo!" greeted them.

"Hey Saria," said Link. The green haired Kokiri girl was Link's best friend in the world.

"Hey Link. What's that? Oh my Gosh! You got a fairy!" Saria exclaimed. She was absolutely overjoyed to see that her friend wouldn't be an outcast for much longer.

"Yeah. Listen, Saria, I have to go see the Great Deku Tree, but I'll talk to you later."

They set off in the direction of the Great Deku Tree, but they were stopped by a young looking boy, though his eyes didn't look young, on the contrary. They looked very old, but very innocent. This was the great Mido, and he presided over the Kokiri.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked Link.

"I don't have time for this, Mido," Link stated. "I have a summons from the Great Deku Tree, an-"

"Where is it?"

"What?"

"Let's see the summons."

"Right here!" Navi said. Mido smirked.

"So, you've got yourself a fairy. You think that makes you suddenly good enough to see the Great Deku Tree? Think again." Navi did not look pleased.

"No, the Great Deku Tree thinks so. Ask him." Mido frowned.

"Well, at any rate, there are Deku Babas out there. Too dangerous to go there without a sword and shield.

"Fine then!" Link fumed. He'd had enough of Mido. He stormed off, determined to find the sword and shield. Mido smiled. He knew that the only sword that was in the forest was very difficult to find and dangerous to get to. He didn't think he'd be seeing Link for quite some time.

The shield was easy. At the shop, they made them. 40 rupees. Link rushed back home and grabbed his life savings. 70 rupees. He took them all out. Back to the store. He bought a deku shield, and in many ways, he was disappointed. It didn't look very sturdy. He had paid over half the amount he had saved in ten years. Oh well, it would get him past Mido.

Now for a sword. He searched all over town, but found nothing. Then he remembered. He had found that hole, up by the training ground, a couple years ago. He turned back because he was almost hit by a rolling boulder. This time he wouldn't turn back. He made his way through the hole. He waited until a boulder had safely passed him before he continued. He crawled out. A boulder was already coming his way. About halfway between himself and the boulder was a small alcove. It was his only chance. Could he make it?

He managed to squeeze himself into it. He quickly ran around corners, and dodged a few more boulders, and he found a treasure chest. He opened it, and found a sword. Link was absolutely ecstatic. He made a couple of close shaves with boulders on the way back because of his rush. But he made it back thankfully unscathed. He made it back to Mido. The Kokiri was dumbfounded. It had been less than twenty minutes.

"But, that sword was so well hidden, you'd _never_ find it."

"Well, then it must be fake. I found it by the training grounds." Mido scowled unpleasantly at him.

"I went to the Deku Tree, he said that yes, you should come. Go ahead if you must." Link smirked at him and headed into the hollow stump on the way to the Great Deku Tree.

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Well, my first chapter done. Second one's halfway done. In it, a new character is introduced. Link's not in it, but it's still very important, nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 2

"Up and at 'em, little brother," said Bodaris. "We have to do extra chores today, because Lombadu is sick." Khârna groaned. He didn't feel like getting out of bed. He was a young boy, roughly the same age as Link, and the two looked quite a bit like each other, though they weren't related, at least not by any significant degree. At any rate, they weren't immediate family. There were differences. Khârna had a different sort of nose, not large, but it bumped out rather than Link's, which sort of curved in. His skin was tanned with sunlight, because there was a lot of that on Death Mountain. It was also dirtier, seeing as the amount of water was very slim. He drank about every drop the Gorons could get their hands on. He needed it. His hair was much darker than the yellow blonde of Link, and it hadn't seen a knife or scissors in quite some time, and to keep it out of his eyes, he sort of flipped it off to the side. He didn't do this to be dashing, or to look cool, he couldn't. There weren't many mirrors around Death Mountain. The rest of his hair stuck up or out in many places. He didn't have a comb, and, since he had never used one, he didn't care. He was a very pragmatic youth. While Link's childhood had been spent playing games, as he lived with children, and it was the nature of children to do so, Khârna spent most of his early life apprenticed to a blacksmith. He went long distances to gather wood, and while he was rather scrawny from lack of proper food, what was on him was all muscle. His ribs were clearly visible, though not prominent, and he never went hungry, the benevolent Gorons saw to that. He was toned, not ripped, and, if he had a mirror, he would have been pleased with his appearance. Not to say Link wasn't muscular. He was. You can't climb around trees all day and chase other children without putting on some muscle. No. So, as a result of this, Khârna was very strong. He was proud, because he could pick the bomb flower when he was only 9 years old. Most Gorons do it then, and as we all know, Gorons are very strong. But most Gorons hadn't been training as a blacksmith since age 5. He pulled ahead. Now, back to the story.

"Huh?" Khârna said with a groan.

"We have to help master, and do Lombadu's chores. He's ill."

"Uggh.." Khârna said. "Well, let's go." He put on his cloth shirt and Dodongo leather overshirt, made like a T-shirt, except laced up the front. It kept him safe from the heat of Death Mountain. He put on his leather pants (again, Dodongo,) and His boots.

"Let's go, then."

They headed out, and their master, Biggoron, greeted them.

"Good morning, you two. Ready to do some hard work?"

"Yes, master." The two chimed nearly in unison.

"You have been gathering ore for many days now. You should have enough to begin work on a blade. What sort of blade, is up to you."

"Really master?" Bodaris said, anticipation obvious in his eyes.

Khârna, however, was silent. He could not say a word. He had wanted to do this for so long. He had beaten many things before, though Biggoron had never known, and had made such good work of it that he was sure he could make an excellent blade. He would make an axe. The same weight as a sword, but with all the mass situated in the head, had the percussive impact of a hammer. He would begin now.

He smelted the ore, purifying it, and making it into steel. Biggoron looked at him with surprise, and suspected what had happened, and it made him chuckle to himself. He was so eager with his work. He thought he had to be secretive about practice.

Slowly, Khârna shaped the molten metal into the blade of an axe. It was nearly perfect. Biggoron smiled benevolently at him, and Bodaris stared with wide eyed wonder. He beamed, and proceeded to cool it. He had spent the last several days in anticipation of this event, and as such, he had already carved a handle for it. It wasn't ornate, merely a perfectly straight rod. He had spent so much time making sure it was straight. When the head was cool, he fitted it on to the rod. Biggoron smiled at him sadly, and said

"There is nothing more I can teach you."

Kharna protested, "But there's so much I don't know!"

"Yes, but that has to be learned by experience. You can't teach some things," Biggoron replied. "I believe it's time for you to find work somewhere. We will not be able to sustain you here much longer."

"I don't want to leave!"

"Talk to brother Darunia. He will make you understand."

"Maybe I don't want to understand!"

"Khârna!" The ground shook with the volume of his master's yell. He calmed down a bit. "Please, talk to brother Darunia."

Kharna was on the verge of tears.

"I will."

He ran inside, with Bodaris close behind.


	3. Chapter 3

I think this chapter is a little shorter. I hope you can forgive me.

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Link entered the clearing and gasped. The Great Deku Tree was enormous. He took a deep breath and moved forward cautiously.

"So, you have returned, Navi. And you have the boy with you. Excellent." The voice was deep, booming, unlike anything Link had ever heard.

"Yep!" Navi said brightly.

"Good. Now, Link –of course I know your name- There is a terrible curse set upon me. A dark man of the desert did it. I know what he was after. I wouldn't give it to him. Free me of this curse."

His mouth opened wide, revealing a veritable labyrinthine structure behind it. Link walked in. He climbed up a ladder. He went a ways further, and found a door. He went in. There was a treasure chest on the other side. He scrambled over to it. He opened it, and inside was a slingshot. With it was a bag full of deku seeds. He left the room, and climbed up to the top level. He saw there wasn't anymore.

"Hey! Look down there. I bet you could break that spider web from up here!" Navi exclaimed.

"You mean jump?!?"

"What else?"

Link took a deep breath, and jumped off. He hit the very center of the web, and broke through, his fall broken by a rather large quantity of water. He climbed out. Through a door, he found a deku scrub. You either had to dodge the nuts they shot, or deflect them. Knowing it would hurt him quite a lot if it failed, Link held up his shield. It bounced off, and hit the scrub in the face. Link was surprised at the durability of the shield. The scrub was cowering in a corner. Link drew his sword, and walked towards it. "Spare me!" the frightened scrub squeaked. "I'll tell you a secret! To defeat my brothers, defeat them in the order "2, 3, 1" twenty three is number one! You doubt me?" Link thanked him and left.

As he went, deeper into the Deku Tree, he found three deku scrubs. He remembered what the lone scrub had told him, and assumed that these must be the ones he was talking about. He got rid of the second one first, then moved on to the third, then attacked the first.

The first one sounded quite perturbed, as he exclaimed loudly

"Damnit! How did you figure out how to beat us? Don't kill me! I'll tell you how to defeat Queen Gohma!"

He told Link the secret, and Link proceeded into a huge room, covered in spider webs. Link looked up, and saw the gargantuan spider on the ceiling, and it dropped down. It's eye was bright red, and link shot it with his slingshot. The eye turned green, and Link hacked away at it with his sword. The spider quickly retreated to the ceiling, and Link found himself bombarded by baby Gohmas. He disposed of them, and then proceded to repeat what he had done before. Gohma was dead in no time.

Link left the Deku Tree. He beamed at the Tree, and he smiled back warmly.

"Well done, Link. You did well, though, I am going to die anyway. Listen well." He proceded to tell Link of how the three goddesses shaped the earth, and gave it life and order, and how, when they left the world, the Triforce was created. Apparently, it was the Triforce that the desert man was after. But to get it, he would have to get the three spiritual stones. One of Forest, one of Fire, and one of Water. The forest one was the one in the possession of the Great Deku Tree, and he gave it to Link.

"The fate of the world lies in your hands, Link." That was the last thing the Great Deku Tree said before he was taken by the grey embrace of death.

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That's it. I wanted to get through with this, it wasn't something I particularly wanted to do, but I didn't want to skip over it either.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, here's chapter 4. The next one will be another short one, and the last one for a while that features merely one of the characters. Yes, they'll meet.

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Khârna ran to his room, sobbing. He knew that Biggoron had a point, but that just made him madder. Bodaris came in. 

"Are you alright?" He asked, obviously concerned.

"I don't know!" Khârna yelled, annoyed. He knew he wouldn't die, but to leave his home, his friends, wasn't that asking a bit much?

"Master's right, you should talk to big brother."

"Fine. I will."

Khârna made his way to Darunia's room, and entered it.

"Hello, there, Khârna." Said Darunia, in his characteristic deep growl.

"Hi…" muttered Khârna. Darunia could tell that something was bothering him.

"What's got you?"

"Master said that I should probably leave Death Mountain, now that I've made my own weapon."

"You should. Why not? You've got skill, you've got strength, and you've got defense. We can't feed you forever. It's getting harder and harder to find good meat. You'll starve if you stay here. We didn't raise you for 10 years to starve, now did we?"

"No… but you guys are my friends! I don't want to leave you!"

"Who said anything about leaving for good? You can come back whenever you like?"

"Yeah!" Cheered by this prospect, Khârna started weighing the possibilities. He could eat whatever he wanted, and do whatever he wanted. He would have fun! He turned to go, but before he did, Darunia gave him a big hug.

"Don't go getting yourself killed. It's a dangerous world out there."

"I won't. Thanks, Darunia."

Then, he left. He came to the gate of Kakariko village, and he tapped the guard on the shoulder through the gate.

"Well, I'll be! How'd you get up on that mountain? You'd better get back to your mama." Said the guard. Kharna didn't bother to correct him, and went into the town. He was amazed. Everyone looked so different. He looked at them, and then looked at his own arms. They looked the same! He was one of them? Impossible! He knew he wasn't a Goron, but he never imagined he could be anything else. The very idea was mind shattering.

"Hi, there. Who are you?" Asked a young woman, with reddish brown hair.

"My name's Khârna. I'm a blacksmith."

"I didn't think we had a blacksmith in the town."

"You don't. I'm from Death Mountain."

"Really?"

"Yeah! And I made this axe myself."

The girl had a very impatient expression on her face

"Of course you did. Now run along."

Khârna paused, unsure. Were all people this mean? And cynical? He didn't want to spend one more minute in this city. He ran out, not even nodding to the guard as he passed.

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I might even get one more up tonight, or this morning, depending on where you are, and how you look at it.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello again. I'm back for more. I never thought I'd say this, but I want reviews, pretty badly. Don't feel obligated, but it makes me feel like people are reading.

Cheers, Vortex

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Link almost cried. The forest was so full of life, he had never encountered death. He turned and started to run out of the forest.

"I thought you'd be leaving," Saria said. He hadn't seen her in his rush to get out.

"I… I.. "

Saria giggled. Then she looked sort of sad.

"Take this with you. Play it and think of me."

Link took the ocarina. Then, he left the forest without another word.

The light blinded him momentarily. It was the first time he'd been anywhere without a thick canopy of leaves covering him. He gained his vision back and saw an enormous plantlike creature rise up. He shot wildly a couple of times with his slingshot. He got lucky. It died.

"That was a peahat," Navi stated. "They can be kind of tricky if you have to fight them close up."

"That's informative, thanks," Link said dryly. "Wow, the castle sure is big…" They headed in that direction. It was nightfall long before they made it, partly because Link kept looking at the stars.

"I'm cold." He whimpered. Navi sighed.

"We would have gotten there before dark if you hadn't been racing a snail to see how slow you could go."

"Hey, it still won, I couldn't go slower than it."

"You're hopeless."

"Is that a fire?" Link suddenly exclaimed.

"I think so!"

"Let's go!"

"Hold it. Take out your sword. Someone must have made that fire," said Navi. "They might not be friendly."

They walked towards the fire.

Meanwhile Khârna was huddled around the fire he had made (cookie if you saw that one coming) And he saw a light, darting about, a little ways off.

"Who are you?" they shouted simultaneously.

Neither one answered, so Navi got fed up and answered,

"This is Link. Who are you?"

"…Khârna." he replied, reluctant to reveal his identity.

"Can we stay here?" Link asked. He was desperate, he had no means of making a fire, and he needed someplace warm.

"I suppose." Khârna answered.

They sat down, neither speaking to each other, until Link asked,

"Where do you come from?"

Khârna wasn't sure he wanted to answer that. He knew where he lived, Death Mountain, but that wasn't where he came from… was it? He decided.

"Death Mountain." The Gorons were his true family, that was where he came from.

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Just one review?


	6. Chapter 6

I keep 'em coming. Please review, It's my first story, and I'd like a little feedback.

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They were woken by a loud shriek.

"Aaahh! Who are you??!?!" A girls voice.

"Huh?" Khârna said, rather stupidly.

"What are we doing here?" Link asked. He hadn't gotten enough sleep, and couldn't clearly remember the events of last night.

"I should be asking you that." The girl had long red hair, almost to her knees. She looked to be about 10, like the boys, and had a very pretty face, in a farm girl-ish sort of way. She had on a very breezy looking dress, and a yellow kerchief around her neck, fastened with a dragon head brooch.

"Well, we were attacked in the night, and it was raining, and cold, and we needed a place to stay." Khârna said vaguely, remembering the events of the previous night.

"Yeah, and nobody was up, so we couldn't ask. We were kind of desperate." Link finished.

The girl scowled, unable to find a good reason why they shouldn't be there. It wasn't like they had a no trespassing sign.

"Well, I'm Malon. Who are you?"

"Khârna."

"Link."

"Well, nice to meet you," she said. "Daddy and I are going into Hyrule Castle Town to deliver milk." Link's face brightened.

"Can I go too?" He asked, in a somewhat pleading voice.

"I guess, so… Fairy boy." She said, finding a dumb nickname on the spot. She couldn't think of one for the other one… how annoying. Link wasn't stung by this. He was still overjoyed with the prospect of having a fairy.

"Gee, thanks!" He said. Malon was rather unhappy with the fact that he didn't care about her nickname for him. (She's not mean, just a little unhappy that they were using the stable to sleep in.)

"C-can I come too?" Khârna asked weakly. He didn't have a reason to go, but he didn't want to be left alone.

With the admirable forgiveness inherent in children, Malon responded,

"Sure! The more the merrier!" Khârna brightened considerably at this.

"What in tarnation?" exclaimed a loud male voice. "Who are these two, Malon?"

"They're friends, daddy!" Link and Khârna were shocked. They had met less than 5 minutes ago. And now they were _friends_?

"Well, then, that's all right," said the man, with the classic naïveté that distinguishes parents of young children, who are nearly adolescence. "My name's Talon. I'm the owner of this ranch. What are your names?"

"Link"

"Khârna" They said quickly, fairly surprised at the number of times in two days they were saying this.

"Well, boys, we're off to Hyrule Castle Town to deliver some milk, and-"

"We know. Malon told us. We were wondering if we could go with you."

"I don't see any reason why not."

"Can we help in any way?" Khârna asked. He felt it was common courtesy to do so.

"Well, you could help us load up the wagon." Talon replied, scratching his head. The truth was, he didn't really have anything, he could do that by himself, but since the boy asked so sincerely, he didn't want to refuse.

"OK." Khârna said with a smile, and started lifting crates on to the wagon. Link sort of shifted off to the side. What was so fun about lifting crates? He didn't get it.

"Ready to go?" Talon asked?

"Yep," Link said a little too quickly. Khârna laughed.

"Well then, let's go!" Talon said.

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Review!


	7. Chapter 7

I made a long chapter, to make up for the fact that the others have been dismally short. In return, I'd like a review. One click, and some clicking of keys, that's all it takes.

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The trip to Hyrule Castle Town was uneventful. But they got in, and Link and Khârna were astounded by the amount of noise. Meanwhile, Malon was arguing with her father. She wanted to help him deliver the milk.

"No, Malon, they'll only let me in. You don't have the credentials."

"But Daddy!"

"No, Malon, that's final."

"Hmmph," She said, defeated. "You'd better be back in an hour!"

As he left, she sat down in a huff.

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"He knows he falls asleep if he goes alone. Why can't he get to bed on time?" Malon practically shouted. People started to look at her.

"It's hard work, taking care of a farm," Khârna said. He didn't know this, of course, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"I can get to bed on time!" Malon said.

"Maybe he lets you. He's older and stronger than you." Link said reasonably.

"Hmmph."

"I've gotta go, Malon, I have to see the princess." Link said.

"WHAT??"

"I was told to see the princess by the Great Deku Tree."

"Good luck with that," Khârna laughed.

"I'm serious."

"I believe you. It's not gonna be easy though." Khârna remarked.

"That's what's going to make it so fun," said Link with a slightly devilish smile. "See you guys."

"Bye."

"Oh, Fairy Boy!" Malon said.

"Yeah?"

"Take this. Use it to wake up my father, if you find him." She handed him a cucco egg.

"Don't worry, I will." Link responded, pocketing the egg. He headed off towards the castle.

"So, why are you here? And where did you come from?" Malon asked, curious as to what this young boy was up to.

"I'm from Death Mountain. I came down because food is getting scarce – for people that is. Gorons have it in plenty… I think." Khârna was feeling very homesick. He wanted to head back there as soon as he could.

"How are you planning on living?" She asked. She didn't think a boy this young would know how to do anything yet.

"I'm a blacksmith. The gorons raised me as one of their own, and they mature faster, so I was taught young."

"Wow…" Malon said, astounded. This boy could work metal and all that? He couldn't be much older than her.

"I made this axe. It's the best thing I've ever made."

"That's really nice." Malon was really confused. She wanted to be nice to this boy. Her 10 year old frame of mind was screaming, "COOTIES!" But, as we know, hormones can only be kept at bay for so long.

"Yeah." Khârna, it must be said, didn't feel the same way. He had a couple more years before the hormones kicked in.

After an awkward silence, Khârna broke the ice again.

"Is it just you and your father at the ranch, or…" He trailed off, not sure what to expect.

"No, we have a ranch hand, his name is Ingo," Malon said, knowing full well what he meant, but deliberately avoiding the subject. "He's kind of short tempered, but he's pretty nice. He works himself to the bone."

"What I meant was –" at that point, Malon broke down crying. Khârna swore under his breath. He didn't mean to do this.

"I don't even know why I'm crying. I don't even know how she died." Ah. There's the answer.

"I'm sorry. I'm an idiot," Khârna said. "Don't talk about it if it makes you cry."

Malon nodded miserably. Then she had an idea. An awful idea. But oh so wonderful at the same time. It was an order straight from the hormones. But she was so distraught she didn't care. She hugged him. In the middle of a crowded city. She hugged him. Khârna didn't really like it. But he was too nice for his own good. He let her hug him, while decidedly not hugging her back. She cried all over him. He was getting more and more uncomfortable as it went on. A young boy came up to him and said "You're gonna get cooties!" Khârna smacked him across the face, sending him to the ground. Malon let go of him alarmed.

"You want to say that to my face?" He inquired of the sobbing boy on the floor.

"N-no." The boy stuttered with fear, then picked himself up and ran away.

Khârna tried to look tough, but he was visibly shaken by what had happened. He could hear the crack as he hit the boy's face. He wasn't aware that most people were so fragile. Growing up with Gorons, he had toughened up quite a bit. He went back to Malon, shaking his head and unable to speak.

Link walked away from the castle gate, fuming. A rather… heated argument with the guard had led to swords being drawn, and, well… let's just say it ended badly.

He rounded the corner, just to be out of sight of the guard, and sat down, looking at the town. He couldn't go back. Not yet. He hadn't talked to the princess yet, and Malon was still down there waiting for her father. He looked around. Ah. There were some vines he could climb up. He did so, and as he walked towards the top of the gate, stuck his tongue out at the guard below. He jumped down on the other side of the gate. He saw guards patrolling the area. They didn't see him… yet. He intended to keep it that way. He stealthily made it past the guards, up hills and over walls. He made it to the castle, but the drawbridge was closed, and if he went around to try to find another path, the guards would definitely notice. He looked at the moat, and at the guards.

"Shit." He said. And promptly jumped in the moat.

It was freezing, to say the least. He did find many rupees in it, though. He nearly laughed as he thought of the royal moat being used as a wishing well, then caught himself for fear of being found by the guards.

He saw a lower step. He looked around. It was the only place he could get up. He didn't think the guards would see him. He was right. And lo and behold, when he got there, he saw Talon, sleeping like a log. The cucco egg had hatched. He took the precocious chick out, and it let out a cock-a-doodle-doo like you ain't never seen. Talon woke up right away.

"What in tarnation?" He asked. "Oh, it's you Link. Sorry, I dozed off. Malon's going to be mad."

"Yes sir, I bet she is." He answered with a grin. Talon ran off surprisingly fast for an overweight, middle-aged man. Link tried the door that Talon was laying near. Locked. He looked around. A drainage pipe was on the other side of the moat. He couldn't jump that far. He eyed the crates that Talon, in his hurry, had neglected to take in. He pushed them into the moat. He could just barely jump over to the drain. He squeezed in, and came out into a garden. He saw that there were more guards. He snuck past them, into a courtyard. There was a young girl, obviously noble, looking into a small crack in the wall.

"Hey!" Link shouted. The girl jumped. She had a very pretty face. Link shook that thought out of his head and walked over to her.

"You're the one, aren't you?" She said. "The one in my dream. There were dark clouds over Hyrule, but a light shone out from the forest, and I saw a boy who looked just like you, holding a gold trimmed emerald.

"Yep, that's me." Link grinned.

"Let me introduce myself," said the girl. "I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule. And you might be…?"

"Link." He said. He'd been hearing his name so often coming out of his mouth he was starting to feel conceited.

"Look through that crack, Link." He did so. "See that man in black armor? He's the king of the Gerudos. He claims to pledge allegiance to my father, but I don't believe it." She said. "We can stop him," she said. "We need the master sword, but for that, we need the three spiritual stones."

"What?" Link asked, confused.

"The three spiritual stones. You have the Kokiri Emerald."

"Oh, I get it." Link said.

"So when we get all of those, then we can stop Ganondorf, and make Hyrule peaceful again."

"Okay!" Link said. He was going to go on an adventure. He loved adventure.

"My attendant will let you out," Zelda said. A dark skinned, grey haired lady grinned at Link. He couldn't tell how old she was, and it freaked him out. When he got out, she said,

"There's Kakariko village. It was a village of my people, the Sheikah. It is now a town for everyone. There is a gate that will lead you to the next spiritual stone." She then taught him the sacred melody of the royal family, and then left.

Khârna and Malon came running out.

"I'm going to go home now, Daddy'll be worried." Said Malon. Khârna was glad she was going. He felt rather uncomfortable around girls.

"Did you see the princess?" He asked Link.

"Yeah."

"What's she like?"

"Really pretty. She talks a lot, though."

"Whatever."

"I'm going to Death Mountain."

"Can I come with?" Khârna asked, jumping at the chance to go back to his home.

"Well, I guess." Link said. He didn't want to be mean, and, besides, that was the kid's home.

"Well, should we go, then?"

"Yeah."

And so, off they went, to the fiery heights of Death Mountain. Khârna didn't know that Ganondorf had closed off Dodongo's Cavern. The Gorons had been growing increasingly concerned, and since Khârna couldn't hold his own if it came to battle, they sent him off as soon as he could take care of himself. They would find all this out soon, though. Oh, would they ever.

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Thank you, and please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Here's one more long chapter. I intended to make it longer, and get them all the way to the Dodongo's Cavern, but I surprised myself with the end of a paragraph, and found I just couldn't beat it. So, read and review.

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"This sucks," Link said. "What a grouch." The two had climbed up Death Mountain to see Darunia, and Link was annoyed, not only because he failed to get the Goron's Ruby, but also the fact that Zelda's lullaby failed to make him sleep, so it was impossible to make like a ninja, and stealthily take it by force.

"He's not normally like that," Khârna mused. "I have noted, though, that he does like music."

"We tried that already!"

"He wanted something green…"

"What's a green song?!?" Link exclaimed. "The guy must be going senile!" Khârna got rather irritated at this.

"He's not senile," he said bitterly. "You'd be depressed too if your people were dying from lack of food."

"Point taken," Link gave in. "Well, what's green?"

"I don't know, remember, I've lived here all my life," Khârna reminded him. "But, grass, single rupees, trees…"

"That's it! Trees! Let's go to the forest! I bet Saria knows some green songs!" Link said.

"Sara-wha?" Said Khârna stupidly, but Link had already run out, and Khârna, not wanting to miss the action, followed.

Malon walked into the ranch, intending to shout out her father for a while, but she runs into their ranch hand instead.

"Hi, Mr. Ingo!" Malon said brightly. Ingo looked tired, like always. But, he forced a smile, and said,

"How was the delivery?"

"It went fine, I brought a couple of friends there."

"Why wasn't I aware of this? You've never brought friends to the ranch," said Ingo, cranky from lack of sleep.

"I know, I just met them this morning," Malon replied with a smile. Ingo just raised his eyebrows.

"That's nice. Could you give me a hand mucking the stables?" He asked Malon, and she complied.

She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in town. Why had she hugged a boy? What was she thinking? But that little voice in her head said, "well, it was kind of nice." Her perfectly rational, 10 year old mind yelled back at it, "No it wasn't!" "Well if so," the satanic voice in her head asked, "Why did you do it? You started it." Her mind could think of no rational explanation for this, and so went and pouted in a remote corner of her skull, leaving that voice to think,

"Does he like me?"

"Do I like him?"

"Do I?"

And her rational mind was incapable of answering, the hormones had started their march.

Zelda smiled to herself. Link was really a cutie. She was almost 11, there was no hope for her. Her endocrine system had her firmly in it's grip. She had never had a real friend, except a couple of servant boys and girls, her own age. And Link was definitely better looking than those boys. She picked up a flower, and, with the romanticism that only a young girl or a lovesick older peron can, she started picking off the petals.

"He loves me, he loves me not…"

She wouldn't have been pleased to know that Link wasn't thinking of her at that time. He was more absorbed in finding his way around the lost woods, in the Kokiri forest. He had long since lost Khârna, and they were bumbling around, always managing to find their way back to the entrance. He happened upon a large owl sitting in a tree.

"Hello, Link."

"Umm… Hi?"

"Getting lost, aren't we?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, listen to the sounds. That's all I have to say."

"But wait!" It was no use. The owl flew away. Link grumbled something about noise and the problems it caused him and strained his ear. He heard it. Not well at first, but it got louder, as he approached a certain tunnel. Well, that was something. He continued listening, and continued through the corridors where it was louder, until he came into the sacred forest meadow. He didn't know its name yet, but let's just call it that for the sake of simplicity. He walked in. Khârna came in shortly after him. They walked towards the only visible opening, but bars covered it.

"That's weird," remarked Link.

"Yeah," replied Khârna. "…wait… what's that sound?" They looked behind them. A crazed, drooling wolfos was sneaking up behind them. They drew their weapons. They attacked, but it defended itself. Link had an idea.

"Khârna, I have the shield. Get behind him," he said. Khârna understood and obeyed. Link played the role of a very tasty slice of meat, and he put up his shield as the wolfos lunged. Khârna saw his chance. He pounced on the wolfos, and brought his axe down on the head. To be frank, Khârna's axe wasn't very sharp, and rather than cleanly cleaving the head in two, it exploded, sending shards of bone and brain flying everywhere. The gate opened. Khârna sat down. He was going to be sick.

Links stomach didn't feel so good either. Khârna stood up.

"Sh-should we keep going then?" He asked rather queasily.

"I guess." Link replied, easily as nauseated.

They walked through the meadow, eventually finding a long staircase. They climbed up, and there they saw Saria. Khârna didn't know her, but Link did, and his face showed it. He was beaming, and he promptly ran up and hugged her.

"It's great to see you, Saria." He said. Saria hugged him back and smiled.

"Great to see you too, Link," she said. "Any reason you came back?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you knew any 'green tunes'" Link said.

"Well, maybe, what's a 'green tune'?" Asked Saria, rather puzzled.

"I'm not sure either," Link said.

"Oh well, who's your friend?" Saria asked, looking rather curious.

"Khârna. I've already gathered that yours is Saria. Pleased to meet you." Khârna said. Saria smiled at him.

"Well, I know you guys don't want to come back here every time you'd like a bit of help, so here's a song. If you play it, you can talk to me." Link quickly took out his ocarina. Khârna sat back and watched.

"Oh, don't you have something to play on?" Saria asked. "Here, take my ocarina. No really, I can make another one."

"…Okay," said Khârna, reluctantly taking the instrument into his hands.

"Now, let's play." Saria said.

Saria proceeded to teach them a really neat little tune, the same one that Link had heard in the Lost Woods. When they could play it, she said,

"If you want to talk to me again, just play this song." Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "It's always reminded me of the forest. It actually has kind of a green tone…" Suddenly, Link jumped up.

"That's it!" He exclaimed. Khârna understood too. They simultaneously jumped up and ran as fast as they could out of the Forest, leaving behind a very bewildered Saria.

"Men," she said, and proceeded to begin work on another ocarina.

Darunia was _very_ fond of Saria's song. His depression cleared up just like that. Not to mention the dancing that shook the ground they stood on. But then, he thanked them, and told them to go home. Khârna bristled. As far as he was concerned, this was his home.

"But, Darunia, we can help!" He exclaimed. The Goron king smiled at him.

"He's right sir, we're good fighters." Link finished. Darunia frowned. He _was_ rather desperate. Ganondorf would surely interpret a Goron entering Dodongo's cavern as a act of aggression, and if he couldn't get the Goron's ruby by his original plan, he would be likely to take more… shall we say… _drastic_ measures. He sighed in resignation.

"All right," he said. "If you two can open it up and kill everything in there, I would be more than glad to give you the Goron's Ruby. But first," he went over and grabbed a pair of bracelets. "These will enable you to pick up the bomb flowers, unless you can already carry them. Two won't make you any stronger than one, so each of you can have one."

The boys slipped the gold bands around their wrists. Khârna was rather scared at the strength he had. He was as strong as a young Goron without them. Is this what it felt like to be Darunia? Or another full grown Goron? Link was marveling. He was a little stronger than Khârna was without the bracelet, but that strength was something new to him.

They quietly thanked Darunia and left the room. Darunia looked rather concerned. Would they handle that strength well? He consoled himself by knowing that they couldn't do it without the bracelets, and he sat down and thought. He wasn't familiar with the legends of Hylians, but if he were, he would be much more reluctant to give up the spiritual stone of fire. Maybe that was a good thing for our heroes, and then again, maybe it wasn't. Only time will tell.

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Do you like that last paragraph as much as I do? I hope so. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Review NOW!12111eleven! Whatever. I want to know if anyone in here would like me to focus more on any one aspect, such as using the actual game dialogue. I thought that a lot of people do that, and it got kind of monotonous, and also, when I see a fanfic that has two together where there's only supposed to be one, and they change the game dialogue only to reflect that change, that kind of annoys me.

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Link shouted as he jumped back from the thrust of the lizardlike creature. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he was breathing heavily. Khârna was a bit better in shape. He was used to extreme heat, and his clothes helped some. But his axe was heavy, and he was starting to feel it. He saw his chance when the Lizalfos struck. He plunged his axe into its back, and it fell lifeless to the ground. Link wasn't having such good luck. His opponent was attacking far too mercilessly to get a hit in. But Khârna knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to try to help Link. He might make a fatal mistake if he was distracted. He started attacking relentlessly back, driven by the will to survive, and he gutted the poor creature, it fell into the pit of lava, where it would die a painful death.

"That was pretty cool, Link." Khârna remarked truthfully.

"Well, not as awesome as how you figured out how to open up the cavern."

"It was a wall low enough to throw over. Anyone could have done it."

"Yeah, sure." He said rather modestly. He didn't want recognition, he never had.

They continued on their way. Into a room with a huge stone pillar. Surrounded by bomb flowers.

"Weird," said Khârna. "You don't usually see this many bomb flowers in one place. It's almost as if they were put here on purp-" He had an idea. He ran to the perimeter of the room, picked a bomb flower, and set it in the only gap in the bomb flowers surrounding the pillar.

"Get out of the way, Link!" He shouted as the fuse on the flower burned down. Link didn't need telling twice. He got as far as he could away. Then,

"Boom!" "Boom! Boom!" and so on, as the flowers exploded. The tremendous force shook the base of the pillar, and it started falling, revealing a staircase.

"Well, that's cool," Link said.

"Yeah, but my ears are ringing." They continued up. Through a door were 4 Armos Knights. They went around them, and went through a door. I'll cut this short.

They found bombs. Lots of them. So, they continued upward in the cavern, and eventually found a bridge. Next to the bridge, was a plaque.

"Giant dead Dodongo," Link read. "When he sees red, the path will open."

"Strange," Khârna said. "I wonder what that could mean."

"Well, let's just cross the bridge." Link said. They started running across at a really fast pace, because there is a certain fear of heights inherent in humans. As a result of this, they almost didn't see the gap in the bridge. Khârna was in front, and link grabbed him.

"Wow, that was close," Khârna said. He looked down. It was the giant Dodongo skull. The eyeholes were directly below him.

"Hmmm…" he said, and experimentally dropped a bomb down the gap. It landed cleanly in the eyehole and promptly exploded. As if by magic, the entire eye turned red.

Khârna turned around and looked at Link, who was grinning. They jumped over the hole, and found that there was another one, wherein they dropped another bomb, getting the same result. There was a grinding noise as the Dodongo's jaw dropped, revealing an opening.

They quickly ran down to it, and went through. There was a switch in an indentation in the floor. Khârna jumped down to press it. The bars on a door retracted as he did this. But as soon as he got out, it went back down. They went through the opening that wasn't blocked. There was a block up on a ledge on the other side of the room, and one near the doorway. They knew what they had to do. Link used his slingshot to get rid of the Keese flying around while Khârna pushed the block over to the ledge, allowing him to push that block off. He saw a similar ledge in the next area. He groaned. This wasn't going to be fun.

They made it back to the room, pushing one last block down. Khârna pushed it into the indentation, as Link finished off the last Keese.

"Khârna, I don't have any more Deku seeds," said Link.

"That's okay," Khârna said. "We're almost done here anyway."

They went through the door that the bars had been blocking, and saw nothing, except for a strangely sunken floor. Khârna placed a bomb on it. It exploded, revealing a hole. He gulped and jumped down, with Link close behind.

It was hot down there, there was a big old lava lake right in the center of it. They looked around and gasped. The biggest Dodongo anyone had ever seen was breathing smoke out of its nostrils. It didn't look like any kind of Dodongo that they'd ever seen though. It had four legs, rather than the usual two, and a long horn on its snout made it look more deadly. With obsidian looking crystals encrusting its black scaled shoulders, truly, this was the King of the Dodongos.

After standing in shocked horror for nearly 10 seconds, which might not seem like a long time, but if a tank like fire breathing creature is rolling towards you, it would seem like an eternity. Link pushed Khârna up against the wall and the rolling demon reptile passed over them. It turned around and started taking a deep breath in, preparing to exhale fire.

Link thought fast. He grabbed a bomb flower and heaved it at the monster. King Dodongo gagged. The bomb blew up inside his stomach, and to say the least, it stunned him. Link ran up and started slashing at him, and Khârna quickly followed suit. He got up, and attempted to roll over them again, but they stayed close to the wall. He inhaled once again, and they carried out the same strategy. King Dodongo shrieked in a horrible, reptilian way. He rolled around again, but it seemed now without a purpose, without drive, and he rolled drunkenly straight into the Lava pit in the middle, which cooled, with the dead reptile in the middle.

The boys couldn't resist examining the dead body before leaving. But they did leave, and when they got out, if they had walked two less steps, they would have been crushed by the Goron King as he landed on the ground behind them. They turned around in surprise.

"You two did well," Darunia growled.

"Thank you," the boys mumbled simultaneously.

"How about you and I become sworn brothers?" Darunia asked. Khârna beamed. There was no greater honor in his mind than to be the brother of his King. Link didn't look so sure. But he decided that there were worse things.

"That would be nice," Link said.

"It sure would," Khârna said in such a way that Link burst out laughing.

"It doesn't involve any stuffy ceremonies or things like that," Darunia said. "I'll give you this as a sign of our friendship, since you wanted it," he said as he handed them the spiritual stone of fire. Link was very excited.

"Thank you, sir!" He said and ran off.

"I'm going to miss you, Darunia." Khârna said, and gave his foster father a hug before he went to follow Link.

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Well, that's it for now. I'm not sure where they'll go now. Before Jabu-Jabu. Well, please review.


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